GinBoy2

Well to be sure, no one wants to actually utter the words but we are moving back into a cold war; Democracies vs Autocracies. The wonderful idea of peace and harmony we had after the end of the last cold war is pretty much shot to pieces. Global trade is rapidly returning home, or at least to like minded countries, and the idea of disarmament is now a pipe dream. Never was a fan of Reagan, but he had it right in the end. He saw that if you had an arms race the West could bankrupt the other side. I think it might be time to repeat history

I think the biggest issue, and it's one which affects many 2nd and 3rd world countries is onshoreing. Western nations after decades of being addicted to cheap manufactured goods from Asia got a huge wake up call in the past few years as supply chains buckled In the US the trend to bring back manufacturing is intense, additionally fueled by the badly named 'Inflation Reduction Act' who's sole purpose is to subsidize domestic manufacturing. That has awakened the EU who are now also considering similar measures If you get rid of sweat shop manufacturing in SE Asia, there ain't enough tourists on the globe to fill that void

A pretty good analysis of the Russian psych. It's wrong of course, but I kinda get where it comes from

$2k doesn't seem unreasonable. We paid something around that back in 2018, we had no issues, other that me being lazy. But the collection of all the documentation was a pain, and you really don't want to screw it up and have to start all over again. So pay the $2k it's worth it

My first job out of college I worked for Rockwell as an engineer on B1 bombers. I was on deployment and as I was swinging open a hanger blast door and my ring got caught on the door. There was no way I was stopping that door. I was lucky I didn't lose my finger, but the aftermath, my ring was embedded underneath the skin of my finger and had to be cut off. To this this day I have never worn another ring

The death of a 17 year old is tragic enough. But this after the trauma that he and the other boys went through is a gut punch, I think to all of us not least his family. For any parent the loss of a child is something you can't imagine, but to have had a miraculous rescue then to to have your son die must be devastating

I don't know how you guys do it. It's too exhausting. I'm way past being prepared to put in the effort of the chase. I'll settle for decent sex, familiarity, companionship, and a simple home life. I know for some of you guys that doesn't cut it, but different strokes for different folks I guess

I must be in a really tiny minority then. Been together a long time. For sure young lust has long since gone, but we still go at it like like rabbits, maybe not at the same frequency, she's all menopausal and i'm just tired. But all in all we like being around each other. Not sure how you define love, but when she went back to Thailand for a month last year, I think we both felt something was missing, maybe that is love

Well, you are right in a way. Lustful love does develop into a form of just being comfortable around each other. That being said it doesn't diminish sex, it's just easier and less stressful. After 20 years you're not in any way under the gun to 'perform', it's just all for fun

Well, I agree with some of that. 50% of all marriages in the West fail, conversely 50% actually go the distance. I'm one of them, 20 years with my first marriage, 20+ with my Thai one. We all change, a little, but by the time you are 30, nothing about you is ever going to change. Now if anyone in their corn fed mind thinks in their latter years they hook up with a woman young enough to be their daughter and it's real love, well time for medication!

Trump attack, denigrate anyone he thinks won't adore him. I'm an American so I look in. Probably 5% of the US population even know this woman's name. What I would say as an outsider looking in, she was an extremely good orator and very effective at winning elections. Not so sure she was that great at governing after winning those elections!

There is some truth in that. I think many a woman has taken on a man as 'a project' certain she can fix him. I doubt many succeed. In truth humans, male or female rarely change their spots

Well any relationship is pretty much a cr*&*p shoot But when you add in the whole Thai bar girl generational gap thing it gets dicey for sure, and probably destined for disaster The stories of guys getting burnt abound, but there is the sub plot of those of us who have quite boring normal lives with Thai women. Despite the stereotype some of us are quite close in age, similar education and somehow figure it all out. Me and Mrs G are now going on 20+ years. The girl still drives me bat <deleted> crazy, but somehow we are still together. Our son, now in his 20's often remarks on 'how the Hell did you two make it this long' Welcome to being an adult!

So, back to the OP.... I think many of us have in our lives told friends bitter truths. It can go many ways. Mine is a rather Thai story. A Swedish friend was dating a Thai lady who was related to my wife. He was back in Sweden and she hooked up with an Italian guy and went on vacation there, totally unbeknown to Swedish guy. She wasn't a hooker or bar girl, but just playing the game. But I struggled with the fact that I would talk to my friend knowing what was going on behind his back. Eventually I did tell him, couldn't do it voice to voice so I did it in an email. It caused a huge rift. My wife's cousin, nor my Swedish friend refused to speak to either of us for years. But ultimately it cleared the air, they figured it all out and are now happily together in Sweden for many years, and we all now talk as before. Hard truths are a bitter pill to swallow and take time to resolve

Maybe I'm just the oddity. But exclude sex, and I would have nothing in common with a woman half my age. HiSo, LoSo doesn't matter at some point I do want to be with someone who I can relate to and share stuff with. But if being with someone who could be your daughter, stares at her phone all day but is ready for sex when you want it works, go for it I guess. Different strokes for different folks. Not condemning anyone, just we all have maybe a different definition of what a 'relationship' is

Me and Mrs G are are a bit of an oddity, well she's an oddity! Thai but after her parents died, grew up in Chicago with her Aunt & Uncle before moving to Singapore after college. So we fit the very familiar US pattern of White guy with Asian female of similar age But in Thailand there is a certain stereotype of older white guy with young hooker which can be hard to overcome, and a lot of Thai's will look at you through that lens

Which makes that list even more dodgy. At least at the US/Canada border, there are border checks so that drunken 18 yo can be counted. France & Poland any day trips from within the Schengen area can't be counted. So 90M non Schengen visitors are flying into Poland every year? I don't think so! So, I'm sorry I'm calling total BS on that list. Maybe it was compiled by an ex TAT employee lol

Another GG nonsensical thread

Interesting list. Poland #2. After that I kinda lost the plot

Well this all centers on what the OP means by 'HiSo' I think for most of us HiSo refers to those who inhabit the stratified air of the super rich. Then you are down to the middle class then the bar girls then the dirt poor. Forget the HiSo's for those, unless you are super rich yourself you are never going to meet them let alone anything else

Did you read the article? I think she was saying the fact she 'had' insurance was what saved her, and was simply telling others buy it. I think she said something to the effect. "200 pounds at the time seemed like a lot of money but it saved me 20,000 pounds"

I'd be a bit careful hanging around the school gates day after day. You may get a visit from the cops!

I would kinda agree with this. First time I ever came to Thailand was when we were living in Singapore, our son was quite young at the time. We went to the Thai Riviera, Pattaya for a long weekend. I was, shocked, horrified by it all, probably more just by the brazenness of it all, totally in your face My wife was quite sanguine about it all, "they're just making a living" Of course I was bringing my American view of kerb crawlers, primps and lots of drugs. Now living in Singapore I'd been to the 'Four Floors of Whores' aka Orchard Towers, but thats just like visiting Disneyland, this all seemed much more real. There me and Mrs G could go, she got to chat with the girls and cheap drinks, and generally fun night with eye candy and live music But it's a totally different 'business' model from prostitution in the West. A lot are supporting families back in the village, and at the end of the day so long as nobody gets hurt, good luck to 'em

I think a lot of us are like that Never had any Master Life Plan, just rolled with whatever the universe threw at me. Kinda worked out ok curiously enough

Well he lives in Pattaya. It's little like being in Cancun. A part of the US which just happens to be in Mexico!. Pattaya is, well I was going say part of the UK, but maybe nowadays more Moscow By the Sea, or Beijing- Super-Mare (take that Brits lol), take your pick!